(Minghui.org) I enjoyed gambling and often got drunk. I knew my behavior wasn’t good, but I couldn’t resist the temptations and acted against my conscience. Perhaps it was by fate that I never won any money playing mahjong, no matter how hard I tried. I received a copy of Zhuan Falun in July of 1999. I was 31 years old that year, but I didn’t start practicing Falun Dafa until 2001.
Falun Dafa Purified My Mind and Body
Initially, I didn’t know how to cultivate. I just read Zhuan Falun and did the Dafa exercises every day. More than a year passed before I got into an argument with my younger brother. I rarely got angry, but when I did, I lost control completely. The argument escalated, and my brother said, “Are you cultivating? Have you achieved ‘Truthfulness?’ Have you achieved ‘Compassion?’ Have you achieved ‘Forbearance?’”
Master Li Hongzhi, Falun Dafa’s founder, used my brother’s words to give me a hint. The realization was like pouring a bucket of cold water over my head.
After my brother left, I thought, “I’ve tried to cultivate Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance for a year, but I’m still not able to tolerate conflicts. Master, I was wrong. I should apologize to my brother.” After procrastinating for a while, I plucked up the courage and called him.
My brother was surprised, as I used to be stubborn and argued even when I was wrong. He remarked, “The sun is rising in the west! My sister apologized to me!” Because of that incident, my family stopped opposing my cultivation and came to understand that Falun Dafa teaches people to be kind.
As my xinxing improved, my frozen shoulder, neck pain, heart condition, and blurred vision all disappeared. I became healthy and energetic. Since I had just started practicing Dafa, I thought, “Other practitioners have cultivated for several years, and I just started. I can’t fall behind!” So I did the five exercises once in the morning and once in the evening. During the day, I studied the Fa teachings whenever I had time.
If I missed a day for some reason, I would make it up. Diligently studying the Fa and doing the exercises laid a solid foundation for my cultivation and helped me to face tribulations without fear. From the moment I began cultivating, I have firmly believed in Master and the Fa.
Clarifying the Truth to People
I ran a beauty salon. Soon after I started cultivating, I chatted with an elderly customer while I did her hair. She talked about Falun Dafa, and I told her I was also a practitioner. She was overjoyed and asked if I knew about sending righteous thoughts. I told her I didn’t, so she taught me.
Since then, she’s brought me every issue of Minghui Weekly. With her help, I’ve kept up with the progress of Fa-rectification, learned to do the three things practitioners should do, and assisted Master in saving lives. I was determined to tell people about the beauty of Falun Dafa.
I started telling people who came to my salon how my illnesses were cured, as well as how I stopped gambling, drinking, smoking, lying, and stealing. I also told them about the CCP’s persecution of Dafa. Most of them came to understand that Falun Dafa is good and agreed to quit the CCP and its youth organizations.
I treated everyone with compassion. Customers kept returning to my shop and old customers brought in new ones. My reputation spread, and my business prospered. This was Master’s compassionate arrangement, a blessing from practicing Falun Dafa.
Resisting the Persecution With Righteous Thoughts
Because of shortcomings in my cultivation, I was arrested and held in forced labor camps in 2003, in 2004, and again in 2007. Each time I was detained, I refused to cooperate with the guards and refused to wear the inmate uniform. The guards forced the other inmates to sit on narrow boards for long periods of time because of my disobedience. The inmates blamed me for not considering them, and they pinned me down. I told them, “It’s not good for you to be doing this to me.”
I thought that, since they were imprisoned for their wrongdoing, it amounted to paying back their karma. So their suffering on account of me should be a good thing. I remained unmoved no matter what they said. But I took every opportunity to tell them about Dafa. I explained that Dafa teaches people to be good by following Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and that cultivating improves one’s health.
I told them I used to suffer from many ailments that had all vanished after I started cultivating. I also explained that the Tiananmen Square self-immolation was a hoax meant to deceive people and turn them against Dafa practitioners.
One of them asked why, if it was such a good practice, the government still persecuted it. I replied, “More people believe in Falun Dafa than are Party members. Jiang Zemin, the former CCP leader, got scared and fabricated the Tiananmen self-immolation to slander Dafa.”
I refused to cooperate with the guards and went on hunger strikes. A dozen people held me down, handcuffed me, and force-fed me. The handcuffs cut deep into my flesh and left bloody marks on my wrists, but I didn’t feel any pain. I knew that Master bore the pain for me, and my heart was filled with boundless gratitude.
The third time I was arrested, I was given 15 months of forced labor. Again, I refused to wear the uniform and started a hunger strike. They force-fed me. When they pulled the feeding tube out, blood gushed from my nose. I later thought that I shouldn’t let them persecute me like this, so I started eating again.
They tied me to a death bed and played audio recordings slandering Falun Dafa. I kept reciting, “The Fa rectifies the cosmos; all evil is eliminated!” to resist the brainwashing. Several collaborators (former practitioners who cooperated with the guards) tried make me give up Dafa. I said, “You are disappointing Master, are not worthy of Dafa, and are leaving a stain on your path.”
The team leader kept trying to brainwash me. I was emaciated from the torture, but my faith in Master and the Fa never wavered. I kept sending righteous thoughts. They tied me to the death bed for 18 days. But when an elderly practitioner was admitted, they took me down so they could hold more people in the cell.
They then ordered me to write a statement about my willingness to participate in slave labor. I did but then felt unsure about it. Another practitioner told me that I should write a solemn declaration to nullify it. I went to the camp office and wrote a declaration voiding the statement. I felt a sense of peace afterward.
Inmates took turns being on night duty. I asked to be on duty at 3 a.m. and was able to do the five exercises. This went on for six months. But my zealotry surfaced, and an inmate reported me to the guards, and I had to stop. A practitioner somehow brought in a Dafa book, and we passed it around to study the Fa at night. Another inmate reported me, so the guards came to confiscate the book, but they couldn’t find it. They then extended my sentence by a month. After my term was up, I walked out of the labor camp with dignity.
My Family Is Blessed for Believing in Dafa
My mother is 92 years old and lives with me. She is very supportive of Dafa. She helps me when I talk to people about Dafa and often recites “Falun Dafa is good.” She has survived three near-death experiences. She once had severe diarrhea and vomiting. I told my siblings, “Let’s recite ‘Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good’ together, and she will recover.” We recited the auspicious phrases, and she was healed. My family witnessed a miracle!
Another time, she contracted COVID and had difficulty eating and was in a daze for six weeks. I tried to help her take a few bites each meal and, after we recited the auspicious phrases together, my mother recovered again.
In March 2024, she came down with shingles. She recited the auspicious phrases, and we joined in. She recovered in about a month. Whenever my mother faced life-threatening situations, my family recited the phrases together.
My nephew, who is now 14, developed a skin condition called purpura when he was eight. During his holiday break, I brought him to my shop. We studied the Fa and did the exercises together he improved. When the condition recurred, his father wanted him to take medication. But the child had a good understanding of the Fa and said, “Master is taking care of me and pushing the illness out from its root.” He refused to take medication and completely recovered in a month.
My daughter was diagnosed with intellectual impairment at the age of four. Modern medical science says she has Down syndrome. However, I firmly believe that this is an illusion. I believe that Dafa practitioners’ children don’t have these conditions, and she’ll get better.
She has caused me a lot of worry since she was born. The stress of caring for her brought my resentment to the surface. But I kept looking inward and gradually realized that it wasn’t her problem; it was mine. So I kept correcting myself by following the Fa.
My daughter and I now read two pages of Zhuan Falun every day, and she has changed a great deal. She can calm down now and understands people and greets them. When people help her, she says, “Thank you!” I will continue to study the Fa with her. When she’s a little older, I will teach her the exercises. I believe she will be a normal child.
Our family is supportive of Falun Dafa and has been blessed. We’re very grateful for Master’s boundless grace and compassionate salvation. Although I still have a lot of attachments, I will study the Fa more diligently and keep discarding them. I will do the three things as diligently as I can to be worthy of being a Dafa disciple in the Fa-rectification period. I want to follow Master and return to my true heavenly home.
